My best learned lesson are taught to me through my own children. Recently, my son has been feeling anxious. I would say, “Don’t worry about that” or “That seems silly to think that”. What I have now learned is I was dismissing something that was real and scary to him. I was failing at acknowledging his fear and his feelings. These feelings were causing restless nights, panic during swim practices, and the inability to be the best he could be in class. It was time for me to learn as much as I could in order to help him.

Through research and counseling, I learned a wealth of knowledge about how to not only help my son but possibly strategies that could translate into the classroom to help create a socially and emotionally literate classroom. One technique that has helped my son and I hope will help teachers is called,

Name it, Claim it, and Tame it.

The “Name it, Claim It, Tame it” technique basically helps the child:

identify the feeling

own the feeling

find ways to handle the feeling

Rebecca Comizio and Dr. Lynne Kenney talk about using the “Name It, Claim It, Tame It” technique for identifying, recognizing and talking about feelings and how to deal with them in two short videos on this website.

They also shared this task card to help teachers use this strategy in their classrooms:

As for my son, we use this technique to bring him to the present moment. It prepares him for the task at hand. It allows him to be ready for important events in his life like sleeping, swimming, and learning.

If you want students who are ready to live in the present and be ready to learn, try this technique…you might be surprised at the results!

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2 thoughts on “Live in the Present”

Interesting post, Melanie.
You had me at “Name-It.” That’s a tough one. Personally, I often don’t take time to actually think about my feelings, let alone to actually name them as they really are. I think this is a tough first step for many, perhaps because it requires so much intentionality, sensitivity, honesty, and maybe time. And I bet it could be an uncomfortable process, too. This really made think how important it is to keep myself in check by not letting your inner voice be negative at times.

What a great idea it is to model this for students. Science teachers could even integrate the cardiovascular system with the heartrate, blood pressure, and respiratory fluctations citing #sci5L12 and #sci7L14. Love the idea of emojis to visually sequence the entire process. I wonder if bitmojis could play a large role here, too?

Thanks for sharing this. My daughter struggles with emotions and anxiety at times, too. I’m always surprised when it happens because it’s not always predictable — and because it’s not predictable or expected, I downplay her feelings, too. I say things like, “You’re being ridiculous” or “That’s a silly fear.”

What I love about Name it/Claim It/Tame It is that I’ll be able to remember it and implement it with her — and with the kids in my classroom — going forward.